


Found family

by JesusChristsuzIe



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Brotp, Fluff, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, POV Zuko (Avatar), Protective Siblings, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Toph Beifong-centric, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:15:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25097491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JesusChristsuzIe/pseuds/JesusChristsuzIe
Summary: Zuko may have failed his biological family but he vows to never fail his found family, ever again.
Relationships: Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 12
Kudos: 394





	Found family

Zuko sat at the edge of the temple, alone. He actually kind of liked it there, the cool night breeze blowing his stray hairs away from his face, the moonlight shining gently down on him, his feet dangling carelessly over the abyss below him.

Yes, he liked it here, on the edge of nothing. He enjoyed the sense of purposeless-ness it gave him. 

Here, staring into the deep darkness below him, or the endless starry sky above him, he could pretend he was anyone else. He could pretend he was normal. That he wasn't the disgraced prince. That he wasn't the banished child who had chased a twelve year old around the world. He could pretend that, in a few weeks, he wouldn't have to take the throne.

He layed back, the cold stone a slight shock to the heat of his back, shifting slightly to the dislodge the tiny pebbles that dug into his back.

He stilled slightly as he heard footsteps approaching where he layed, suddenly very aware of how exposed he was, but he didn't move. The footsteps were loud, meant for him to hear. 

He had a guess of who it was, it wasn't like anybody else here wanted anything to do with him.

He wasn't sure why she did, though.

"Toph."

She sat down beside him, silent for a moment, before turning her head towards him, a large grin on her face, "Sparky."

He looked up into her eyes, they stared unseeingly in his general direction. 

She had one of the most unusual faces he had ever seen. Aside from his own, maybe.

She was pretty, there was no denying that, and he figured she'd grow up into a very beautiful woman, but her face wouldn't have stood out so much, if it weren't for her eyes.

They were the lightest eyes he'd ever seen, just a shade away from white, barely even green, and they had a glazed, milky look to them at all times. They were also the largest eyes he had ever seen, big and round and innocent, larger than even Aang's. They were captivating and he couldn't help but stare into them whenever they spoke, but he'd never tell her that.

"What do you want Toph?"

He pushed himself up slightly, leaning back on his elbows. He felt a small wave of relief go through him as the pressure was taken off of the little stones that were cutting into his back.

She stared indignantly, pushing her face up, so her nose stuck snobbily up in the air, "Oh, so I have to ask your permission to sit where I want now? You might be a prince, but you can't boss me around." Her little fists came to rest on her hips in fake annoyance.

He had to hold in a laugh, she looked so young, so much like a child it was unreal. 

_'She is a child, though. They all are.'_

He frowned at this thought, it wasn't wrong, however. Coming to stay with the avatar and his friends, Zuko had been forced to accept the grim reality that his childhood wasn't the only one that had been ripped away. His frown deepened, the depressing reality washing over him.

He didn't have to school his expression around her, it wasn't like she could see. He knew she could sense his heartbeat and his breathing quicken and slow, but she'd be able to feel that whether he was smiling or not.

"No, but people don't tend to want to sit with me."

She frowned back at him, for real this time, and made an effort to look more at him then just in his general direction. Her eyes stared down at his chest, but he guessed she was aiming for his eyes and held in a little snort.

"Well, I want to sit with you. you're weird and stupid and so fucking infuriating, but you're the closest thing to a brother I'm ever gonna get, so I'm gonna enjoy spending time with you."

Zuko felt his face heat up and he knew she could sense his embarrassment, if her very tiny smirk was any indication.

He sat up fully, the relaxed position suddenly too inappropriate for the situation. Her eyes followed him even though she couldn't actually see his movements.

"What about Aang? Or Sokka?"

She shrugged, "I dunno, they're different to you, yeah they're cool and I do love them, don't ever tell them that, though. Especially not Sokka, but you're different. Like I said, you're weird and stupid, but I feel like I can tell you shit, I dunno, you get it, in a way that they just don't."

He stared back at her, searching her milky eyes, for any signs of lying or even mockery. Maybe it was all a big joke, he knew she wasn't above a good prank, and she did love to torment him the most.

Was this why? Because she saw him as family? 

He figured it was just pay back for burning her feet, but maybe she thought she was showing him some sort of affection.

He swallowed, seeing nothing but an earnest vulnerability, that she usually did so well to hide, in her milky eyes.

He thought of his real family. Of his real sister.

Of how he failed her, how he didn't protect her like he promised, how he had let her become twisted and jaded before his very eyes. He thought of how he was forced to watch her be manipulated and traumatised and abused. 

He thought of his failure for his real sister and looked down at the tiny girl before him, who claimed she could fill the void Azula had left long ago.

He looked down at her defiant posture, her fierce expression, her black hair that fell easily into her face, much like his at times, her strangely captivating eyes.

He realised, with some shock, that she could be his sister, she looked the part enough, her pale skin, dark hair, her face was soft and curved like Azula's, whereas his was sharp and jagged, but they had the same sloped nose and pointed chin. The only giveaway, her unsettlingly pale eyes.

He looked down at the resolute girl and vowed silently to protect her, the way he was never able to his real sister, he promised that he would not fail the girl before him, that he wouldn't let her come to any harm, because, although he had only known her a few weeks, at most, she really did fill the void Azula left all those years ago. And he didn't think he could bare to have that void ripped open again.

He laughed, a real laugh. It was light and airy and carried on the wind, he noted, happily, that her little shoulders seemed to relax slightly at the sound.

He reached over and pulled her into a fierce hug, she yelped and struggled against him, arms flailing and fists flying, eventually wriggling away from him and landed a rough punch to his shoulder. He laughed again as he rubbed his arm, this time she joined in too, their gleeful shouts filling the night air around them.

He looked down at her once more, "So, I guess I'm stuck with you now?"

She snorted slightly, "Yeah, tough luck, Sparky. I'm not too easy to get rid of," she said, nodding.

He stretched his feet out before him, glowing slightly in the light of the full moon, his pale skin contrasted against the deep, inky blackness of the drop below them. 

He noticed, slightly amused, that as he let his feet dangle out before them, she kept her feet planted carefully against the side of the rock, needing to be anchored to the earth at all times.

He felt a pang of guilt run through him at this revelation, as he remembered their first informal meeting, being jolted awake, the flare of fire, the terror in her young face, and promised once more not to let her get hurt.

"I'm sorry Toph."

She turned towards him once more, her bushy eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "For what?"

"Your feet. I really didn't know it was you and I never would have hurt you if I had."

He was surprised to hear a boisterous laugh being ripped from her, even more surprised to see her eyes watering from her violent laughter. He didn't know apologies were so amusing.

"Stop apologising Sparky, I already told you I forgave you, didn't I?" She didn't wait for him to answer, "I know you didn't mean it and I shouldn't have snuck up on you. Besides what's a little fighting between siblings?"

He bristled a little at her last question, remembering the fights between him and Azula, the harmless bickering between siblings and the more lethal ones too, being pushed out a third story window sprang to mind.

She realised what she, however, and hastened to take it back, "I'm kidding! God, sometimes I forget how fucked your family is, don't worry I'm not gonna, like, try and kill you like Azula, I won't even earthbend at you, I promise!" He was slightly flattered at that, Katara didn't even get that treatment, "unlike her, I'm a good sister."

He laughed once more, part of him felt saddened, however. Azula had been a good sister, once. It wasn't her fault they were born into a family of monsters, it wasn't her fault she had been broken over and over again. He would never hold that against her, no matter how much she lied and killed and fought, her would never hold the selfishness of their father against her, and a secret part of him, a part he would never show anyone, not Toph, not Mai or even Uncle, would always love her, would always see her as that innocent little girl, who used to chase after him and play tag with him and show him her dolls and name baby turtle ducks with him and their mother. 

He looked down at Toph and could only pray that he wouldn't fail her like he did Azula, that he really could protect her.

He pulled her into a hug again, gentler this time. He relaxed slightly as she actually let herself hug him back, as he cradled his arms, her tiny arms barely able to reach around his middle. He realised, once again, just how young and fragile she really was, no matter how strong she liked to think she was. 

He really would protect her.

He wouldn't fail her.

He _couldn't_ fail her.

Because she was his sister.

She was his family.

**Author's Note:**

> I really do love Zuko and Toph and just wish that their relationship had been more developed in the show they could have made such a good duo


End file.
